


The Bad Boy Type

by JenLeeJune



Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, BTS Kim Seokjin, BTS OT 7, Dancer Kim Seokjin, Dancing, F/M, Jin x OC, Underground, Underground Dancing AU, bangtan sonyeondan - Freeform, bts - Freeform, underground dancing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2018-11-18 01:45:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11281161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenLeeJune/pseuds/JenLeeJune
Summary: She is a cat person.He is a dog person.She likes British boys with soft brown eyes and deep voices.He will go for any girl that looks good in a short dress and high heels.She doesn’t like who she is.He wishes the thing that made him this way never happened.There is no love lost between her and her family.He has six friends, more like brothers, who would die for him.She wants to break away from the monotony of her life.He wants his life to go back to being what it was.She loves dancing.So does he.She meets him.He meets her.It is hate at first sight.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy reading this story and your feedback is really appreciated.

**Chapter 1**

       

“Class!” the teacher called her students to attention, “If you could all pay attention, please!”

 

Thirty-five heads turned to the teacher, stopping whatever they had been doing. And they noticed a new face standing next to the teacher. It was a girl, around their age, her deep brown eyes surveying all of them carefully. Her straight black hair was tied up in a neat ponytail. She appeared nervous and uncomfortable, apparent from the way she clutched the strap of her bag.

 

“Everyone, this is Kang Ye Seul.” The teacher introduced her to the class, “She has transferred here from Seoul and will be your new classmate.”

 

The teacher then nodded at her to relay her greetings to the class.

 

Ye Seul cleared her throat nervously and said, “Hello. I’m Kang Ye Seul. I hope to get along well with you all.” She finished with a polite bow to the entire class.

 

She looked up to see if she was receiving any hostile looks, but all the looks that she was getting only seemed to be curious and friendly. Ye Seul relaxed a little. One of the girls, sitting in the third row raised her hand.

 

“Yes, Mina?” the teacher asked, as Ye Seul looked curiously at the girl with the short bob of brown hair.

 

“Ye Seul can sit next to me.” The girl named Mina offered, “This seat is free.”

 

“Thank you, Mina.” The teacher smiled at her. Turning to Ye Seul she said, “Mina is the school captain and the representative of this class. She’ll help you find your way around and with anything else that you might need. Come find me in the teachers’ lounge if you still need anything.”

 

Ye Seul nodded politely, “Thank you, Ms…um…”

 

“Kim Min Ji” the teacher introduced herself with a smile, “I will be your class teacher and Korean literature teacher.”

 

Ye Seul nodded again, “Thank you, Ms. Kim.”

 

 

 

 

 

Mina offered Ye Seul a friendly smile as she set her bag down on her assigned table, which Ye Seul tentatively returned.

 

“I’m Shin Mina.” She said with smile, “Welcome to our school.”

 

“Thanks…I guess.” Ye Seul replied a little awkwardly making Mina chuckle.

 

“What classes are you taking?” Mina asked, curiously, peeping into her timetable.

 

“Um…English, Korean literature, maths, biology, physics, chemistry and dance.” Ye Seul said, looking at her timetable, “What about you?”

 

“I have three classes with you.” Mina said, “English, Korean literature and dance.”

 

“What about the rest?” Ye Seul asked.

 

“History, Politics, Economics and music.” Mina shrugged. Ye Seul nodded before turning her eyes back to her own timetable. The first class happened to be English, so Ye Seul grabbed her bag and was in the process of pulling out her English workbook.

 

She was about to ask Mina if the reading list for the semester was given, seeing as she had joined two weeks after the semester started, when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around to find the previously unoccupied seat to her left now occupied by a good looking boy with black hair and a rather adorable smile.

 

“Hey!” he said, holding out his hand, “I’m Park Jimin.”

 

“Kang Ye Seul.” Ye Seul said, shaking his hand.

 

“I know.” Jimin grinned, “So, I overheard you talking to Mina. You have dance as one of your classes?”

 

“Yes.” Ye Seul nodded, “Why do you ask?”

 

“I take dance too.” Jimin said, and then asked, “Are you any good?”

 

“I guess I’m okay…” Ye Seul said hesitantly, a little taken aback by the sudden question.

 

“Well, I guess we’ll see.” Jimin grinned, before turning to a tall boy who had appeared next to him, “Hey TaeTae! Where you been?”

 

“I had to see Ms. Kim about exchanging a class for dance.” The boy apparently called TaeTae said.

 

“And?” Jimin asked expectantly.

 

“No go.” The other boy shook his head, dejected, “I’m stuck with maths. It’s not fair! Kookie got his politics class exchanged for dance!”

 

“Why didn’t she agree?” Jimin asked, frowning.

 

“The class is full. Some new kid took the last spot.” TaeTae grumbled.

 

Jimin turned to look at Ye Seul with an amused smirk. The other boy followed his gaze and his eyes landed on Ye Seul who looked distinctly uncomfortable. The boy called TaeTae smirked too.

 

“So, you’re the reason I can’t take dance?” he asked.

 

“Um…” Ye Seul hesitated, unsure of what to say.

 

“I’m Taehyung, by the way.” He offered, his smirk turning into an amused grin.

 

“I’m Ye Seul.” Ye Seul said, “And I’m sorry about taking up the last spot in the dance class?”

 

Taehyung burst out laughing, before replying, “It’s alright! I was only trying to get rid of maths! I dance enough already as it is – Ouch!”

 

Ye Seul looked curiously at Jimin who had kicked Taehyung and was now looking out of the window like nothing had happened. Taehyung just offered her another smile and Ye Seul decided she wasn’t getting any more explanation.

 

At that moment, their English teacher walked in and class commenced. Ye Seul conveniently forgot about the little incident.

 

 

 

 

 

“How have your classes been so far?” Mina asked Ye Seul, as they walked to the cafeteria together. She had caught her as Ye Seul had been walking out of maths looking like a lost puppy.

 

“They’ve been okay.” Ye Seul shrugged, “Maths was a repeat of stuff I’d already learnt, so…”

 

“Ah.” Mina said, as they reached the cafeteria counter, “What do you want to eat? It’s my treat.”

 

“No, you don’t have to…” Ye Seul hurriedly reached for her purse, but was cut off by the other girl.

 

“Come on! It’s your first day here! Let me treat you!” Mina insisted.

 

“Thanks.” Ye Seul said, albeit a little uncomfortably. She was not one to get comfortable with new people too soon.

 

“Where do you want to sit?” Mina asked, once they had got their food.

 

“I don’t know…” Ye Seul looked around the crowded cafeteria, “Where do you usually sit?”

 

“Oh, I usually sit with my dance troop.” Mina answered, and Ye Seul looked up with interest. But Mina continued, grinning, “But you look uncomfortable enough with me. And our dance troop is a rather rowdy bunch.”

 

“Oh…” Ye Seul said, not having anything better to say.

 

“But we could still sit with them, I mean, if it’s okay with you.” Mina said. Ye Seul could hear the longing in her voice.

 

“Yeah, no problem. Let’s go.” Ye Seul nodded immediately, because no matter how rowdy, she would always be interested when the words dance and troop went together.

 

Ye Seul followed Mina to one of the corner tables of the cafeteria, navigating through the throng of people in their way. The table was occupied by five boys and one girl. Ye Seul noticed that the boy she spoke to in the morning was one of them. Park Jimin she remembered his name was. The boy to his right sported a snapback and was finishing the last of his lunch. The boy to his right, with a handsome mischievous face was talking to a slightly tanned boy next to him. The tanned boy wore a tank top showing off his impressive muscles and an easy smile. The boy to Jimin’s left was pushing his drink cup around on the table and smiling at his phone as he texted someone, sporting a dimple on one of his cheeks. The only other girl at the table had her face buried in a book, as she shovelled food into her mouth, her face partially hidden by her long curly blonde locks.

 

“Hey oppa!” Mina greeted the boy with the snapback as she set her tray down. Ye Seul set her tray down next to Mina’s and sat down between her and the one other girl at the table.

 

“Who’s this?” the boy Mina addressed as ‘oppa’ asked.

 

“Oh, this is Ye Seul. Weren’t you there when Ms. Kim introduced her in the morning? She’s new here. Today’s her first day.” Mina introduced her. Ye Seul gave a slight bow and said, “Hello.”

 

“Ah, so you’re Kang Ye Seul?” the boy asked with interest, before introducing himself, “I’m Jung Hoseok, the leader of Rhythm N’ Beats.”

 

“That’s our dance troop.” Mina explained, noticing Ye Seul’s slightly confused expression.

 

“Dance crew!” another boy sitting to Hoseok’s right insisted, making the rest of them laugh.

 

“So, I heard you dance?” Hoseok asked Ye Seul, stealing a cheese stick from Mina’s plate.

 

“I do.” Ye Seul answered, picking up her sandwich.

 

“Well, I’ll see you in dance then, seeing as that’s the only class we have left together today.” Hoseok smiled at her, before picking up his empty tray and dumping it in the dustbin.

 

“See you guys later too. I’ve got to choreograph a new routine.” He told the others, as he picked up his bag, moved his chair aside with his foot and walked out of the cafeteria.

 

Ye Seul took a bite of her sandwich and looked around the cafeteria as Mina got busy talking to her friends. They seemed to leave her alone and she was thankful for not having to speak to any more strangers that day.

 

The bell rang just as Ye Seul was dumping her tray in the dustbin. She said a short goodbye to Mina before running away to find her Chemistry class. She realized, not so much time later, that it had been a very bad idea and now she was lost. She looked between the classroom that said Biology and the room opposite that said Art and the wall in front of her and groaned.

 

She turned around and retraced her steps back to where she had started, that is, the cafeteria. She was so sure she had followed Mina’s instructions word for word.

 

“Are you lost?”

 

Ye Seul turned to see Jimin and one of the other boys from lunch approaching her.

 

“Yeah…I was trying to find my chemistry classroom.” She admitted, hesitantly.

 

“Come with me! I have chemistry too.” the other boy offered, waving at Jimin who said a quick goodbye and walked away in the opposite direction.

 

“Thank you.” Ye Seul said timidly, falling into step next to him.

 

“I’m Son Hyun Woo, by the way.” He introduced himself, with the same easy smile he sported earlier. Ye Seul nodded and returned the smile.

“So,” Hyun Woo spoke to cut down the awkwardness, “What club are you joining? Have you decided yet?”

 

Ye Seul remembered Ms. Kim telling her to pick a club by the end of the day and she had already decided on a club. She had needed no time to think.

 

“Yes,” Ye Seul nodded, “I want to join the dance club.”

 

Hyun Woo looked taken aback at her words, “You mean you’ve been accepted into Rhythm N’ Beats already? Hoseok didn’t seem to know you back at lunch though?”

 

“I’m sorry?” Ye Seul asked, just as confused as him.

 

“The dance club activities are only for the members of Rhythm N’ Beats. You need to be accepted into R N’ B to have dance as your club activity.” Hyun Woo explain, “Didn’t you know?”

 

“No, I didn’t.” Ye Seul shook her head, “How do I join Rhythm N’ Beats then?”

 

“Well, that is up to Hoseok, seeing as he’s the leader.” Hyun Woo shrugged, “I don’t think we’re having auditions for new members now because we have enough members already. But you can probably join if you impress Hoseok. Are you good at dancing?”

 

“I’m okay.” Ye Seul answered, sort of annoyed at being asked the same thing that day. She was better than okay, but she didn’t think it would be prudent to flaunt that on her very first day here. Anyway, they would see for themselves during dance class.

 

 

 

 

 

She stood in one corner of the huge dance hall leaning back against the wall. Around her the class was stretching and warming up, preparing for the last class for the day. The members of Rhythm N’ Beats were fooling around together, having fun.

 

Ye Seul would be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous or anxious, because she was. Dancing was something she loved and being a part of Rhythm N’ Beats was something she really wanted. She looked like she was bored out of her mind just standing there, but she was actually thinking of moves that could be considered impressive.

 

She straightened as she saw Hoseok approach her, followed by the rest of his members.

 

“I heard you wanted to join the dance club?” he asked her, not unkindly. Mina was looking at her curiously while the other girl was scrutinizing her sceptically. Jimin was smirking openly, while Hyun Woo shot her an encouraging grin. The other boy seemed least interested in the matter and was spacing out.

 

“Yes, I do want to join the dance club.” Ye Seul nodded firmly.

 

“Well, let’s see how well you do in this dance class then.” Hoseok grinned at her, “I’ll take you in if you’re half as good as Hyoyeon.”

 

The girl with the long blonde curls gave a derisive snort. Ye Seul felt the annoyance bubbling in her again.

 

“Alright.” She nodded, looking at Hyoyeon straight in the eye. They had to stop there as the dance teachers walked in.

 

They made the students go through half an hour of warming up exercises, drawing out a lot of frustrated groans. Ye Seul was impatient to start the real thing. The dance troop members were all diligently doing the warm ups and Ye Seul figured this was an everyday thing for them.

 

At long last, the head dance instructor called them to attention.

 

“Alright guys,” he said, “We’ll be going over the routine we finished last week once or twice to see if you guys remember it, and then we’ll start a new routine today. Now I want you to split into teams of four, seeing as you have twenty people in this class now. Who’s the new kid?”

 

“I am.” Ye Seul raised her hand, before bowing politely to the teachers, “I’m Kang Ye Seul.”

“Right, Ye Seul. Welcome to the dance class, then.” The head teacher smiled at her, “Okay, everyone. Groups of four, now!”

 

The students scrambled around like roaches, trying to find their friends and teaming up with them. In the end, Ye Seul found herself teamed up with the spaced out guy from Rhythm N’ Beats, Hyoyeon and another guy she didn’t know.

 

“Ye Seul, you can sit this session out.” The instructor told her, “I don’t expect you know this routine?”

 

“No.” Ye Seul shook her head, “But I can perform it if I see it a few times.”

 

Hyoyeon raised her eyebrows contemptuously while the guy from RnB looked mildly interested.

 

“Really?” the instructor too seemed disbelieving,

 

“Yes, please let me try.” Ye Seul insisted.

 

“Well, if you say so. You guys can go last then.” The instructor agreed.

 

Her team members ignored her, so Ye Seul sat down leaning against the wall and waited for them to start. The first to go up were Hoseok, Jimin, Hyun Woo and Mina. It was small two-minute routine, not too difficult. Ye Seul marvelled at how Hoseok, Jimin and Hyun Woo made the simple routine look like something out of a winning performance at a national competition. Mina, who was teamed with them, appeared unimpressive in their midst, even though she seemed to be a fairly good dancer. She seemed to be trying a little too hard, whereas the three boys looked like they were made for this.

 

Slowly, just by looking at them, and the other teams, she got the hang of the steps. But performing it would be a task. She noticed some of the teams going over the routine at the back of the hall, and considered joining them. But then she realized she was too chicken for that. So she just waited for her turn.

 

“Okay, Hyoyeon, Yixing, Sunwoo and Ye Seul.” The instructor called, “Come on!”

 

Ye Seul pushed herself off the floor and followed Hyoyeon who strutted confidently to the front.

 

“Ye Seul, stand behind Hyoyeon, so you can follow her steps if you get lost,” the instructor told her. Ye Seul nodded and positioned herself behind and diagonal to Hyoyeon.

 

“Ready?” the instructor switched on the music, “Start.”

 

Ye Seul let the music flow through her as she tried to remember how the routine started. She stepped just as Hyoyeon stepped and it began. Her moves were not perfect, but they were definitely better than ‘half as good as Hyoyeon’. Her face showed her extreme concentration, and she couldn’t keep up the carelessly confident aura that shone on Hyoyeon’s face. But her movements and body language mimicked Hyoyeon’s almost perfectly.

 

They did the final turn and ended with a high kick and stomp as the music stopped. Panting hard, Ye Seul was still looking at the floor, trying to catch her breath, when the sudden applause made her flick her eyes up. She expected everyone to be clapping for Hyoyeon, because let’s face it, Hyoyeon looked like a dance goddess blasting those moves and Ye Seul was genuinely impressed despite her behaviour towards her.

 

What shocked her was that everyone’s eyes were on her, including Hyoyeon’s who was smiling at her looking really impressed.

 

“That was fantastic, Ye Seul!” the dance instructed complimented her, “I mean, you were slightly off beat, and some of the steps were not very clearly executed, but considering that this was your very first time doing this routine, I am very very impressed! That is some talent you’ve got!”

 

“Thank you.” Ye Seul murmured, blushing and stepping back a little.

 

 

 

 

 

“Welcome to Rhythm N’ Beats!”

 

Ye Seul ducked as a burst of confetti came showering down on her. She managed her first ever non-awkward and comfortable grin of the day.

 

Jungkook, the last member of Rhythm N’ Beats she was introduced to and the one she remembered as the mischievous smile guy from lunch, capped the empty canister and threw it in one corner. He was a year junior to the rest of them, but was apparently a marvellous dancer.

 

“You’re a really fast learner! I have to give you that!” Hyoyeon, who had been much nicer to her after her performance, grinned at her, “I don’t like the idea of people who can’t make it two steps into a routine without going off beat thinking they can join RnB.”

 

That explained it. But she judged too fast, Ye Seul thought. She decided not to say anything about it. Instead she turned to smile at Mina. She was a little surprised when the smile Mina returned was half hearted. Brushing the thought off, she turned to Hoseok who was saying something.

 

“….can rearrange the choreography to accommodate Ye Seul.” Hoseok was saying, “She is a fast learner. I’m sure she’ll learn it by the day after!”

 

“I take time with difficult routines.” Ye Seul felt the need to interrupt when their expectations of her started going out of hand.

 

“Even then, I don’t think you would take more than a week to perfect the routine?” Hoseok asked.

 

“A week should be good.” Ye Seul admitted.

 

“That’s a lot better than Mina!” Hyoyeon laughed, clapping Mina on the back, “Mina usually takes two weeks just to learn the routine!”

 

Again Ye Seul noticed the half-hearted smile on Mina’s face. The boy called Yixing, who was yet to speak to her for that matter, put an arm around Mina’s shoulder and frowned slightly at Hyoyeon.

 

“Oh chill, you two! I was only kidding!” Hyoyeon laughed before taking Ye Seul’s hand and dragging her away to teach her the dance they were learning.

 

“Okay, we need you to learn this dance and perfect it as soon as you can because we have a dance competition coming up in a month’s time where we’ll be performing this.” Hyoyeon explained.

 

“Okay, what competition?” Ye Seul asked.

 

“The Interschool Dance-Off.” Hyoyeon told her, “We have it twice every year – once at the beginning and once at the end of every year. We have been the champions for two years running now.”

 

“Cool!” Ye Seul marvelled.

 

Hyoyeon smiled, “We’ll be going up against some of the best dancers in Busan, so we’ll need to focus real hard, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Ye Seul nodded, “Let’s do this!”

 

After an hour and a half of intense practice, all the members were flat on the floor, panting and gasping.

 

“Ye Seul, you’re getting the hang of this really well!” Jimin showed her a thumbs up.

 

“Yeah noona, you were cool.” Jungkook panted out his opinion from the floor.

 

“Thanks!” Ye Seul’s face flushed red with pleasure.

 

“Every one of you did well!” Hoseok acknowledged, “Mina, just try to stay on beat. You were doing really well.”

 

“Right, oppa.” Mina panted from her spot on the floor.

 

“I should get going.” Hyun Woo said, sitting up once he had caught his breath.

 

“Yeah, I should too.” Hyoyeon stood up.

 

“I’m leaving.” Yixing called, picking up his bag and leaving, without a backward glance.

Ye Seul was rather taken aback by how abrupt and unfriendly he seemed.

 

“Don’t mind Yixing.” Hyun Woo told her, smiling, “He’s usually like that – shy and awkward. He’s an amazing dancer though. You coming?”

 

“Yeah…” Ye Seul scrambled up, waving to Jimin, Hoseok and Jungkook, who were still on the floor. Hyun Woo walked her to the lockers to get their stuff.

 

“Anything wrong?” Hyun Woo asked, watching Ye Seul rummaged about in her bag for something.

 

“Yeah, I think I left my sweat band back in the dance hall.” She sighed, zipping up her bag.

 

“Well, just get it tomorrow. It’s all the way in the other building.” Hyun Woo said.

 

“Yeah…no, it needs washing. You go on ahead. I’ll go get it.” Ye Seul waved to him and ran off towards Block Two, that housed the dance hall.

 

She could hear voices as she neared the dance hall. Last she knew, the only people there were Hoseok, Jimin and Jungkook. But the voices sounded like more than that of three people.

 

“A new girl?” she heard a voice ask as she came closer. She slowed down her pace, not wanting to burst into the hall, “Was she good?”

 

“Hyung, she was amazing!” she heard Jimin’s voice, “She remembered the steps of a routine just by watching us!”

 

“That sounds impressive.” She heard a little chuckle. Curiously, Ye Seul peeked around the door, to see that four more boys had occupied the room. One of them she recognised as Taehyung. The other three she had never seen in her life.

 

The guy talking sported a little smirk, as he listened to Jungkook describing her dancing abilities during club hour.  His dark hair fell over his forehead carelessly, making him look effortlessly handsome. His eyes looked like they hid a few secrets. His sharp jawline only enhanced his handsome features. He lounged on the chair comfortably, smirking, as Jungkook stopped for breath.

For a moment, Ye Seul forgot why she was even there, she was so busy drinking in the features of the extremely good looking person.

“She sounds remarkable, Jungkook-ah.” His smirk became more prominent, “She look good?”

 

“Ey, Jin hyung!” Hoseok threw a sock at him.

 

“What?” the boy called Jin asked, “I just asked a question.”

 

“She’s not that good in the looks department.” Jimin said thoughtfully, making the eavesdropping Ye Seul grit her teeth in annoyance.

 

“Then she probably will not interest me.” Jin shrugged, his good looking face showing disinterest. Ye Seul felt another stab of annoyance.

 

“She almost found out about this,” Jimin said, indicating towards himself and the rest of the boys, “Thanks to Taehyung!”

 

“You only made it more obvious by kicking me like that!” Taehyung insisted, “I wasn’t going to say anything much.”

 

“Maybe we should make her a part of this?” Jungkook suggest eagerly.

 

“You out of your mind, kid?” Jin cocked an eyebrow, “She’s a girl.”

 

“But she really is a good dancer!” Jungkook insisted, “You will definitely be impressed, Jin hyung!”

 

“I don’t care how good a dancer she is, what we do isn’t something we get outsiders involved in, much less girls!” Jin snapped.

 

“But there were girls-“

 

They were interrupted by Hoseok’s phone going off. He shushed everyone before answering the call.

 

“Hello? Eric hyung?” he spoke into the phone, while the rest of the guys watched him with curiosity and eagerness.

 

“Well?” Jin asked, once Hoseok’s phone was back in his pocket.

 

Hoseok turned to the rest of the guys, grimly, “Party, tonight at 10, Shinhwa club. There’s prize money.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos! :)

**Chapter 2**

 

 

_“_ _Party, tonight at 10, Shinhwa club. There’s prize money.”_

 

Ye Seul wondered why they had to look so grim at the mention of a party, playing with her sweat band that he had salvaged from the dance hall, once the boys left after receiving news of this party. She took her time walking down the road to her new home, even though it was nearing seven in the evening.

 

Ye Seul’s parents were definitely not pleased when she strolled into the house at fifteen minutes past seven.

 

“What kept you?” Mrs. Kang asked her daughter, looking at her through her frameless glasses, over the file that she had been reading, without any preliminary greeting.

 

“Extracurricular activities.” Ye Seul answered shortly, waiting for further questions.

 

“Don’t they get over at 6?” Mr. Kang asked grimly, putting down the evening newspaper, “It’s almost seven-thirty.”

 

“Actually it’s just seven-fifteen, dad.” Ye Seul said, staring her father right in the eye.

 

“Nevertheless, it shouldn’t have taken you more than twenty minutes to come home from school by bus.” Her father retorted, not missing a beat.

 

“I walked.” Ye Seul answered, sulking.

 

“So, you were just whiling away your time.” Mrs. Kang said, putting down her file and standing up.

 

“I wanted to look around this city.” Ye Seul muttered, frowning.

 

“There will be a lot of time to do that later.” Mrs. Kang said sternly, “You shouldn’t be wasting important study time exploring the city.”

 

“Sure, mom.” Ye Seul said coldly, “As long as we don’t move to _another_ city just out of the blue one day. I’ll be in my room.”

 

With that, Ye Seul turned away from her parents and stomped up the stairs to her room, banging the door shut angrily. She flung her bag down on her chair and threw herself on her bed, frowning till it gave her a splitting headache. After around half an hour she slipped off her bed to change into something more comfortable before pulling out the homework she had for the day.

 

She worked till she heard her mother calling her for dinner. She popped an aspirin in to reduce the headache before heading downstairs. Dinner consisted of stir fried vegetables and grilled fish. They ate quietly for a while, till her mother decided to question her about her day. Ye Seul answered her questions coldly.

 

“Look, Ye Seul,” Mr. Kang began, putting down his fork, “I’m sorry we made you transfer, alright? But this was such a good opportunity. They made me head of the Busan branch of our law firm! Your mother got offered such an excellent position too! How could I have just passed this opportunity?”

 

“Sure dad.” Ye Seul answered, focussing on her food.

 

“I’m sure you will get used to things here soon enough, Ye Seul.” Mrs. Kang said, in a way she assumed was kind. It only made Ye Seul more irritated. She put down her fork and pushed away her plate of half-finished food.

 

“Thanks for the food.” She said, pushing her chair back and standing up.

 

“Wait, Ye Seul.” Her mother stopped her, “I saw in your prospectus that you could pick the extracurricular activities. I hope you picked something that won’t hinder your studies.”

 

Ye Seul closed her eyes in exasperation, “I picked dance, mom.”

 

“Ye Seul!” Mrs. Kang exclaimed, “Didn’t we tell you that we’ve had enough of your dance business? I thought having it as a subject should be enough.”

 

“I haven’t had enough of dance, mom.” Ye Seul said through clenched teeth, “and neither will I ever. No amount of dancing is ever going to be _enough_!”

 

“Fine.” Mr. Kang, who had been silent all along, spoke up, “Take dance if you must. But if your grades don’t pick up, I will personally step in and get your extracurricular activity changed.”

 

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about my grades!” Ye Seul muttered under her breath, stalking away from the dining table.

 

Back in her room, she could no longer concentrate on her homework. She laid back on her bed and closed her eyes, playing the whole day over in her head. She saw _his_ face again, in her head. She wanted to see his face again. She felt reckless.

 

She remembered the name of the place they mentioned. _Club Shinhwa_. Ye Seul wasn’t new to clubbing. She has sneaked out with few friends – well classmates, they weren’t that close to her to be called friends exactly – back in Seoul, a few times. Of course, it had been all for the dancing. Ye Seul took care to always stay away from the alcohol, and to slip out once her friends started losing it.

 

 Ye Seul unlocked her phone and searched up Club Shinhwa on the Busan city map. It seemed to be quite a distance from her house, but she decided a bus would take her there easily enough.

 

The task would be getting out of her house when it was almost ten in the night. Her parents would be occupying the living room, watching the late night news on television. The front door was out of question. There was the back door that lead out of the kitchen, but she would have to pass her parents to go into the kitchen. And they would be highly suspicious if she walked into the kitchen in outdoor clothes. Or if she didn’t appear back from the kitchen.

 

Ye Seul slipped off her bed and ran to the window. The window didn’t have any grills. Ye Seul stuck her head out to see how far a jump it would be. It was quite a fall, she noticed and she didn’t exactly want to break her leg or neck right now.

 

Ye Seul wondered if there was something she could use, and her thoughts jumped to the gym ropes she used when learning areal dance choreographies. She had them tucked away somewhere in one of the unpacked boxes in her room, she was sure.

 

She sat down on the floor and pulled one of the boxes labelled ‘Dance’ towards herself. Swiftly ripping off the tape holding the lid down, Ye Seul feverishly rummaged through the box, tossing bandanas, sweat bands and ribbons all around the room.

 

“Ah!” she exclaimed in delight as she finally pulled out the entwined bits of the gym ropes. She quickly disentangled them and tied one end of a rope to the leg of her table tightly. She tugged at it to see if it held and was pleased to find that it held very well. The other end, she flung out of the window. There were no other windows on that side of the house, so Ye Seul didn’t need to worry about being seen. The rope didn’t go all the way to the ground, but it went low enough for her to be able to jump the remaining distance easily.

 

Ye Seul flung open her wardrobe and pulled out a black top, her black skinny jeans and her black jacket with a hood. If she was going clubbing, she might as well do it her style, Ye Seul thought, as she dressed. She finished her outfit with her pair of black knee length boots. She added a dark layer of eyeliner and she was ready to run.

 

Ye Seul locked the door of her bedroom, hoping that if her parents came up to check, they would assume she was still mad at them. She checked the time on her phone, before slipping it into the pocket of her jeans along with her wallet. It was just ten. It would take her twenty minutes by bus to reach this club. Hopefully, she’ll be in time for the good part of this party, whatever party the boys had been talking about. By good part, she meant the dancing, because what is a party without dancing?

 

Ye Seul carefully climbed over the window sill and swung her legs down, taking hold of the rope. Slowly she inched her way down, alert for any kind of sound that she had been discovered. Thankfully, she jumped the last bit of the landing when she reached the end of the rope. Crouching low, she ran to the front gate. She peeped in through the window of the living room to find her parents engrossed in the television. Quite as a mouse, Ye Seul jumped over the little side gate and let out a breath she hadn’t even realised she was holding.

 

Lips stretching into a wide grin, Ye Seul ran towards the bus stop.

 

 

Twenty past ten. Ye Seul jumped off the bus with the last remaining passengers. She took out her phone and opened the Busan city map again. She put in her location and began to walk in the direction the map directed her. She slowed down when the street turned dark, the lights dimmed and she heard drunken yelling from some place.

 

Pulling up her hood to hide her face, Ye Seul continued to walk like a ghost in the darkness, till she reached the club. The entrance was lit up in blue and red lights. There was a man at the door checking for IDs. He wore a tank top, displaying his bulging muscles, and every inch of his exposed skin covered in hideous tattoos.

 

Ye Seul took out her wallet and pulled out a card – a fake ID card that one of the boys, in the group she was part of back in Seoul, had gotten made for her, just for the purpose of getting admission into clubs.

 

Pulling her hood lower, Ye Seul handed the man her card, hoping it worked here as well as it had worked back in Seoul.

 

“Jen, 21.” Read the man, scrutinizing what was visible of her face, “You new around here?”

 

Ye Seul just held her hand out for her card.

 

“I’m afraid I can’t let you in tonight.” The man said, handing her back the card, “There’s a private party going on.”

 

Ye Seul frowned, as she grabbed the card. So it was some private party the boys had been talking about? She was about to turn away, when she decided to take a shot in the dark.

 

“I’m here for the party.” She said, with more confidence than she actually felt.

 

“Really?” the man frowned, “You’re not on the list.”

 

“They must have forgotten to add me.” Ye Seul bluffed, “Because I’m new.”

 

“Do you even know what’s happening in this party?” the man asked, suspiciously.

 

“Dancing.” Ye Seul shrugged, praying it was the right answer.

 

“Who told you about the party?” the man asked, his suspicion growing, “No one talks about these parties without informing us first.”

 

“I just heard about it somewhere.” Ye Seul shrugged, trying to appear undeterred, but inside, she knew it was time to make herself scarce. She wondered what the big deal about this ‘party’ was, but she had enough sense to not mention the boys.

 

“Well, you can come inside with me and show me who’s been talking around carelessly.” The man glared at her.

 

“Hey!” Ye Seul protested, as the man dragged her by the elbow inside the club, making her hood fall off, “Let me go, you big brute!”

 

The brute of a man roughly dragged her to the makeshift podium adorned with a mic stand. Letting go of Ye Seul’s elbow, he tapped on the mic to get everyone’s attention.

 

“Listen up!” the man roared, “Who’s this chick and who told her about this?”

 

Ye Seul squinted in the darkness, struggling to look at the faces of the fifty odd people looking at her, all with glasses filled with colourful liquids in their hands. The flashing club lights only made it more difficult to see. In the semi-darkness, she noticed some sort of a scuffle as a few people attempted to push through the crowd to the front.

 

A small group of boys emerged out in front of the crowd, into the single beam of light that probably should have been focused on the podium. They squinted up at her, because she still stood in the dark. But Ye Seul’s eyes opened wide as she recognised two very familiar faces. The faces of Jung Hoseok and Park Jimin, with bottles of, presumably, alcohol in their hands.

 

Slowly the rest of the boys’ faces became clear and Ye Seul recognised Taehyung, Jungkook and him. _Jin_. Ye Seul froze as her eyes landed on him. He was squinting in her direction, eyes narrowed to slits, a little frown distorting his forehead. His hair no longer fell carelessly over his eyes. Instead it was swept back and styled. He wore a long loose T-shirt and black ripped jeans, and black sneakers to go with them. In his one hand was a glass of whiskey, while a skimpily clad girl hung on to his other arm.

 

“Well, no one recognizes her?” the man from earlier roared again, making Ye Seul jump.

 

“We can’t really see her, you know.” The boy with his hair all spiked up drawled from behind Jin.

 

“Someone switch on this light!” the man yelled, pointing at the spotlight right over Ye Seul’s head. Ye Seul flinched as the bright light hit her eyes with a blast. She could just see the shocked expressions on Hoseok, Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook’s faces through her barely open eyes.

 

“Now?” the man asked, menacingly.

 

“Never seen her in my life.” The spiked-up hair guy drawled again.

 

“You!”  the man pushed Ye Seul forward, “Who was it? Who told you about this party?”

 

“No one.” Ye Seul muttered, nervously, trying to hide behind her curtain of black hair.

 

“You better speak up, or you’ll be in trouble!” the man cracked his knuckles threateningly.

 

“I told you, I just heard people talking!” Ye Seul muttered through clenched teeth, “What’s the big deal?”

 

She glanced slightly at Hoseok who was looking at her through narrowed eyes, as was Jimin. Taehyung and Jungkook seemed to talking among themselves.

 

“The deal is, lady, that no one talks about these parties carelessly.” The man approached her intimidatingly, “Now out with it! Who are you? You with the authorities? A spy for the cops? Oh don’t think I can be fooled! They’ve started sending pretty girls thinking they can fool us!”

 

“I am honestly just someone who wanted to go dancing!” Ye Seul held up her hands in surrender, “I have absolutely no idea what sort of a party this is! I bluffed just to get inside!”

 

“Okay, we’ll believe that once we’ve checked.” The man growled, not buying a single word and beckoned to another man lurking in the background, “Check her.”

 

The second man walked up to her, looking sinister with tattoos covering half his face and piercings, the other half.

 

“Take off your jacket.” He ordered, holding out his hand.

 

“Like hell I will!” Ye Seul spat, stepping backwards.

 

“Don’t make me use force.” The man said, eerily.

 

“Look, I’ll just leave. Alright?” Ye Seul started walking backwards, “No harm done!”

 

“Oh yeah?” the first man mocked, followed by the laughter of the crowd, “And then what? Call the cops on us?”

 

“Why would I want to call the cops?” Ye Seul asked, bewildered. Her question was followed by more booming laughter, as she looked around uncomfortably.

 

“You really have no idea, do you?” the man asked her, amused, “Are you really old enough to be clubbing?”

 

“What-what do you mean?” Ye Seul swallowed nervously.

 

“I don’t know,” the man grinned creepily, “I must be meaning that you’re underage. Now why don’t you be a nice little girl and tell us who told you about this place, before you land up in a deeper problem?”

 

Ye Seul gulped and glanced at the only boys she knew in the room. Everything about their demeanour told her that she shouldn’t point at them.

 

“Hurry up!” people from the crowd started yelling.

 

“Which bastard ruined this whole night for us? Out with it!” more people yelled.

 

“What’s going on?” a louder voice suddenly yelled, silencing everyone, “Why haven’t you started yet?’

 

Ye Seul watched silently as a man dressed in a black and white suit walked up through the crowd, followed by five other men.

 

The men who had been interrogating her, turned to the new additions respectfully. Glancing at Ye Seul, one of the men said, “We’ve had a slight problem.”

 

Ye Seul watched nervously as the men whispered something to the man who appeared to be the boss. She took another step back as the boss looked her up and down.

 

“You’re a high schooler, aren’t you?” he asked, smirking.

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Ye Seul replied coldly.

 

“It’s not new for me to have high schoolers at my club.” The man said, smirk becoming wider, “But I like to be informed earlier.”

 

“Now,” he continued, looking at the crowd, “Whoever invited her here, you better come out or I’m going to scrap this whole event and all of you can go back empty handed.”

 

“Yah! Come out already!” someone from the crowd yelled.

 

“Seriously, you guys have a death wish?” another yelled.

 

Ye Seul was completely at a loss, trying to figure the situation out. All she knew was she should have turned away and gone when the man refused to let her in.

 

“She’s with us, Eric hyung.”

 

Ye Seul spluttered in shock as she saw Hoseok step forward and say the words. Jimin’s aura had gone black. Jungkook and Taehyung too looked grim. She couldn’t clearly see the faces of the two boys behind them.

 

What caught her attention was Jin’s face. He looked not only shocked, but furious. He roughly shook off the girl clinging to him and caught hold of Hoseok’s collar.

 

“What do you mean she’s with us?” he growled, angrily.

 

“Calm down, hyung.” Hoseok removed Jin’s hands from his collar, “She’s our new member, but she wasn’t supposed to be here today. We were going to tell you about her today.”

 

“Then you shouldn’t have told her about tonight’s event, J-Hope.” The boss stared at Hoseok.

 

“We…didn’t.” Hoseok said, staring at Ye Seul.

 

“You sneak up on them, young lady?” the boss turned to her, smirking. Ye Seul just stared stonily back at him, making neither head nor tail of things.

 

“You must be good, for these boys to actually accept you into their group.” The boss snorted, “Care to show us how you impressed them?”

 

At his words, the crowd instantly shifted, forming a wide circle, leaving a huge round gap in the middle. The spotlight that had been on Hoseok and the others moved to focus in the middle of the circle. Eric indicated with his head for her to step in there.

 

Ye Seul looked for Hoseok, who, along with the other boys, had been once again swallowed by the dark.

 

“Does she even know how to dance?” came an obnoxious voice from the crowd, followed by a lot of cackling. Ye Seul went red in the face. She had never been in such a situation ever before. Right now, she terrible missed her classmates from Seoul.

 

“We haven’t got all night!” another person yelled, followed by more yelling and booing. Ye Seul took a step towards the spotlight, instantly silencing the crowd. Her boots echoed on the tiled floor as she walked to the centre of the circle.

 

“Ready?” the boss asked her, and nodded at one of the men standing around. Ye Seul looked around nervously, shuffling her feet and wringing her hands. She could just make out Jimin’s silhouette where he stood. The rest of the boys would be around there. They would be watching.

 

Ye Seul remembered how Jimin and Jungkook had praised her behind her back to their hyungs. They were probably waiting for confirmation by watching her dance themselves.  She took a few breaths to calm herself and closed her eyes as the music started.

 

For ten seconds, Ye Seul stood still with her eyes closed, feeling the music. At the right beat, she began to move. The music spoke to her as she lost herself in the dance. And she was free at last. When she danced, she thought about nothing else. She was on her own stage, not in a club surrounded by people. She was the performer; she was the audience. She danced for herself and she loved it.

 

The crowd burst into applause as Ye Seul finished the dance with a neat somersault, landing cleanly on her feet. Panting, she straightened and looked up straight at the boss.

 

“Not bad.” He gave a crooked smile, “I can see why the boys chose you. You dance as well as all the boys here. So, what are you called?”

 

“Called?” Ye Seul asked, still gasping for breath, “My name you mean? Ye-“

 

“You really don’t know this stuff, eh?” the boss smirked again, “I don’t want your real name. What’s the name on the card you showed the bouncer?”

“Card?” Ye Seul frowned, and then realised what was being asked of her, “Jen. I’m called Jen.”

 

“Alright, Jen.” The boss gave another crooked smile, “Welcome to Club Shinhwa. Now, since Jen has already performed from BTS, we’ll take that as BTS’s performance for tonight and go ahead with the rest.”

 

“What!?” a voice protested, “You can’t do that!”

 

“Are you questioning my authority, Jin?” the boss turned to the boy who had stepped forward.

 

“It’s not fair because we had no idea that she was joining us!” Jin glared at Ye Seul, “This is not going to be BTS’s performance for today!”

 

“Unfortunately for you, boy, you don’t make the rules.” The boss smirked, “Start the performances!”

 

Ye Seul gasped as someone pulled her away from the centre. She turned to see it was Jungkook. He gave her a slight smile and a quick wink, as he dragged her towards the rest of the boys.

 

“Ye Seul-“ Hoseok began, but Ye Seul cut across him.

 

“I’m really sorry.” She said worriedly, “Look, I had no idea this party thing is such a big secret and shit! I thought it’s normal clubbing when I overheard you talking on the phone, I swear!”

 

“You were there at the dance hall?” Hoseok frowned, “I thought you’d left?”

 

“I did, but I came back for something I’d left behind- “

 

“Is that really important right now?” Ye Seul was interrupted by Jin’s furious voice.

 

“I’m sorry?” Ye Seul jumped.

 

“What were you even thinking following us at this time of the night to a place like this?” Jin continued spitting fire.

 

“Hyung, it’s okay!” Taehyung tried to calm him down.

 

“It’s not _okay_!” Jin growled, eyes burning.

 

“I did not _follow_ you here!” Ye Seul scowled.

 

“A little bit of success with the dance troop and you think you’re good for everything?” Jimin scoffed.

 

“I had no idea this was…whatever this is!” Ye Seul yelled, “What is this anyway?”

 

“Underground dance competition.” Hoseok explained, “Easy money. Winner gets a fat cash prize. It’s illegal though.”

 

“Most of the people here are underage too.” Taehyung added, “And then there’s the alcohol in their hands.”

 

“You’re the one to talk.” Jimin snorted, hitting Taehyung’s bottle with his own. Taehyung just shot him a mischievous grin and took a swig from his bottle.

"Oh." Yee Seul said, her face losing colour, "Now what?"

Jin gave a loud derisive snort, “Look at her! Now you worry! After you’ve ruined things for us as well!”

“I don’t think we need to bring that up right now, hyung.” Hoseok said quietly, staring unflinchingly back at Jin as he glared at him angrily.

“There was a reason I said no girls in the group, J-Hope! There’s a reason we are the Bangtan BOYS!” Jin yelled, “Have you forgotten already?”

Suddenly Ye Seul didn’t find Jin all the alluring. The charismatic person in her head had disappeared behind this person who was nor throwing a proper old bitchfit. The rest of the boys had gone silent as Jin started yelling.

“What’s your problem?” Ye Seul scowled at Jin, as Jungkook spat out his mouthful of drink, “It’s not like I did anything on purpose. I'm the victim here! So, stop behaving like someone just bit your ass!”

Jin’s face went pale. His hands curled themselves into fists.

“And is it our fault that you're the victim?" Jin growled through clenched teeth, "No, it isn't. So stay away from us! And don't ever turn up here again. We're not taking responsibility for you a second time!'

Turning to Hoseok, Jin shot him wrathful look that made him look down guiltily.

"Sort this out, J-Hope." Jin ordered before turning away and stalking out.


	3. Chapter 3

Ye Seul stared at Jin’s broad retreating back, bewildered. She really didn’t understand the reason why the boy had to be so hostile to her. She looked on, stumped, as two other boys followed him out.

“What did I do?” she turned to Hoseok, confused. Hoseok sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“You just don’t talk to Jin hyung that way.” Jimin said quietly, looking thoroughly displeased with her.

“He’s the eldest, Ye Seul. And, well, we all look up to him a lot.” Hoseok explained, a little more nicely, “When Jin hyung suggests something, he always has a very plausible reason for it. And we did agree to the no girls rule.”

“That’s okay, though.” Ye Seul said, hesitantly, “I mean, this was just a one-time thing and I really won’t be running into you like this again.”

“Yeah…” V scratched the nape of his neck, “That would have worked, had you not drawn attention to yourself with that amazing bit of performance.”

“They’re going to be asking for you, and, well…” Hoseok hesitated, “We don’t really disobey them, unless we want to get into trouble.”

“By them, you mean…?” Ye Seul asked.

“Eric hyung and the rest of Shinhwa.” Hoseok explained, “They started out as an underground dance group like us. And then made it big. And now they hold illegal underground dance competitions.”

“Oh.” Ye Seul said, having nothing else to say to that, and then asked, “What are you guys called then?”

“Bangtan Sonyeondan.” Jungkook said, “Bangtan Boys. BTS.”

“Ah…and earlier he…Jin…kept calling you…J-Hope?” Ye Seul asked Hoseok, curiously.

“That’s my underground name…sort of…like yours is probably going to end up being Jen…unless you change it, of course.” Hoseok shrugged, “When we’re here, we refer to each other only by those names. And the names stay here. We never speak this names anywhere else.”

“Right.” Ye Seul, deadpanned, wondering what she had really got herself into, “And no one else…like in school…knows about your clandestine night time activities, I assume?”

“Only those who are also in this business.” Taehyung nodded, “You’re not allowed to talk about this. I hope you understood that bit after the whole drama.”

“Yes.” Ye Seul swallowed thickly, “Um, you said they’re going to be asking for me again. But J-Jin just said that…that you won’t be taking responsibility for me any more…?”

“It doesn’t work like that, and Jin hyung knows that.” Jimin frowned, “They’ll find you, they’ll tail you and they might even forcefully haul you here…if they go slightly far.”

“They can’t have you blabbing all over the place, so they’ll make sure you’re deep enough in this. Then blabbing will get you into as much trouble as it will get them in.” Hoseok sighed.

“Jin hyung…whatever he said…he didn’t mean a word of it.” Jungkook said, softly, “He knew, as well as any of us, when Hope hyung claimed you were with us, that we’re going to be responsible for you, whether we like it or not. Jin hyung actually feels the most responsible.”

“His reason for not wanting girls in the group…?” Ye Seul asked hesitantly.

“That is something you need to ask Jin hyung, not us.” Jimin said, firmly. Ye Seul nodded, feeling intimidated.

“That was some sexy performance, babe!” came a drunk obnoxious voice from behind them, at that moment.

Hoseok discretely pulled Ye Seul by the elbow and away from the gang of boys that appeared, all looking rather tipsy.

“You guys going to perform in this condition?” Taehyung asked one of the boys, who was leaning heavily on another for support.

“We’re not performing.” The boy who was supporting the drunk lad said grumpily, “Shownu didn’t turn up.”

“Oh.” Jimin frowned, “Why not?”

“Some family business he mentioned.” The boy shook his head, “I better get I.M. home, then. He’s already puked three times.”

Ye Seul shifted aside slightly to let the boys pass, wincing at the stench of alcohol and vomit emanating from them.

“Monsta X.” Jungkook said from behind her, making Ye Seul jump.

“I’m sorry?” she squeaked, hand over her chest.

“They’re called Monsta X.” Hoseok explained, grinning slightly at Ye Seul’s reaction, “Another underground dance group.”

“Right.” Ye Seul nodded, turning away from him to look around at the crowd inhabiting the club.

“You.”

Ye Seul jumped again as a very familiar stern voice penetrated her ears. She turned to see Jin standing next to her, still looking pissed, but not outright mad as he had been.

“Come outside and talk to me.” He ordered, poker faced.

“Jin hyung, don’t-“ Hoseok began.

“You come out too.” Jin’s eyes flashed to Hoseok angrily, “All of you. We’re not winning any cash here tonight, anyway.”

“Come on.” Jimin sighed, pushing Jungkook forward, “Let’s not make him angrier.”

Shooting an apprehensive look towards Hoseok, who nodded at her, Ye Seul fell into step next to Taehyung. The noise from inside the club dimmed as she stepped out into the dark alley.  Jin stood with his back to her with the two other boys who had followed him out.

“Kook, V” Jin called and Ye Seul swore Jungkook jumped a teeny bit.

“Yes, hyung?” Jungkook asked, anxiously, staring at Jin’s back.

“Go home with Park. No arguments.” Jin ordered in a ‘no-nonsense’ voice, “Park, take them home.”

“Yes, hyung.” Jimin exhaled, and Ye Seul realised ‘Park’ was probably Jimin’s underground secret name or whatever that was and V was Taehyung’s. She felt like giggling at ‘Kook’ but decided the time wasn’t too right for that.

Ye Seul watched nervously as Jimin ushered Jungkook and Taehyung to his car. No one spoke till Jimin’s car was out of sight. Hoseok kept shooting uneasy glances at Jin while the other two boys stared broodingly ahead.

“Jen.”

Ye Seul jumped at Jin’s eerily calm voice.

“Y-yes?” Ye Seul uttered in a mortified whisper, the heavy uncomfortable aura smothering her.

“I assume J-Hope has explained to you what you need to know about our group?” Jin asked, still not looking at her.

“Y-yes, I suppose…” Ye Seul stammered, glancing at Hoseok fleetingly.

“I have.” Hoseok answered quietly.

“You understand you’re not supposed to talk about this carelessly?” Jin emphasised, “We do not want any more unwanted audience finding out about us.”

Ye Seul felt a pang of dismay at the word ‘unwanted’. Chagrin replaced the fear and apprehension in her voice, as she answered, “I understand.”

“We’ll try to keep you from getting too deep into this. You don’t have to come with us to all the competitions that we go to.” Jin continued. ”But you will have to come with us to every Shinhwa club party and any party where there are chances of Shinhwa being present.”

“Okay.” Ye Seul said, quietly.

“It’s late.” Jin said in a lower voice, “We’ll explain everything else to you after school tomorrow. You should go home now.”

“How did you come here, Ye Seul?” Hoseok asked.

“I took the bus.” Ye Seul answered, looking up the time on her phone, “I don’t think I’m going to get a bus back this late though. I mean, it’s already past twelve.”

“How were you planning to get back originally?” Jin asked, passing a hand through his hair, frustrated.

“I thought I would be in time to take the last bus…” Ye Seul whimpered.

“Suga, RapMon, Hope.” Jin called, “You guys go on ahead in Hope’s car. I’ll take her home. Hope, take them to my place.”

“Your place?” Hoseok looked surprised.

“My place.” Jin said, not bothering to give any explanation.

Ye Seul watched timidly as Jin threw them a bunch of keys that was caught by one of the boys with glistening green hair. Finally, he turned to her, eyes looking calmer than they had been earlier, but worried.

His perfectly styled hair was now messed up, but Ye Seul thought it made him look even more attractive, if anything.

“Come on.” Jin said shortly, watching Hoseok and the two other guys getting into Hoseok’s car. Ye Seul followed Jin to his car and silently got into the passengers’ side in the front as Jin held the door open.

“Thank you.” She muttered as Jin closed the door. Jin didn’t reply, but silently got into the driver’s seat and pulled out of the parking.

“I’ll need you to give me directions.” Jin said, after around five minutes of driving.

“Yo-you’re going on the right route.” Ye Seul stammered as Jin’s voice broke through her thoughts, “Just take the right up ahead and go straight on.”

Jin nodded, attention focussed on the road. Ye Seul hesitated, biting her lips and staring at Jin, wondering whether to speak or not.

“You have something to say?” Jin asked, after Ye Seul had spent several painful minutes, pondering.

“No!” Ye Seul said reflexively, before biting her tongue, “Ehm…actually…can you just drop me at the turning to my street. I don’t particularly want my parents to find out that I haven’t been in my room all this time.”

Ye Seul shrieked as Jin brought the car to a screeching halt and turned to her looking livid.

“You’re telling me that your parents have no idea you’re not home.” Jin growled through clenched teeth, “That no one knows you were out clubbing.”

“I was pissed off with my parents, alright?” Ye Seul snapped, “That was the reason I even ran to that club in the first place!”

“You couldn’t have told anyone else?” Jin snapped back, “Friends?”

“I’m new here! I just moved like a week back! What do you expect?” Ye Seul yelled, irritated.

“Do you even realize in what sort of danger you were tonight?” Jin yelled right back, punching the steering wheel angrily, “If Hope hadn’t spoken you could have been whisked away into the darker areas of the industry and never heard of again. No one would have asked about you. No one would have spoken about you! What kind of a reckless person are you!?”

Ye Seul sat frozen in her seat as Jin fired her. The reality of the situation only just began sinking into her. The colour drained from Ye Seul’s face and she swallowed and coughed distressfully to clear her clogged throat.

“I didn’t know…” Ye Seul choked, mortified, “I didn’t know. I’m sorry. Please stop yelling. I didn’t know.”

Jin clammed up abruptly, taking one look at Ye Seul’s face.

“My house is just around this corner.” Ye Seul continued in the same frightened whisper, “I can go on my own from here. Thank you for the ride.”

Fingers fumbling on the handle, Ye Seul managed to get the door open and stumbled out of the car. She turned back, confused, as she heard the other door slam and saw Jin standing outside the car, too.

“I’ll walk you till your gate.” Jin said softly, but firmly.

“Thank you.” Ye Seul murmured.

 

 

 

 

“Ye Seul! Are you up yet? You’re going to be late for school! Ye Seul!”

Ye Seul buried herself further into her bed, trying to block her mother’s voice and the incessant knocking on her door. She wasn’t being lazy, not at all. Ye Seul hadn’t slept a wink since the moment she had crawled into bed at half past one in the morning.

Once Jin had seen her to her gate and walked off without another word, Ye Seul had climbed over the side gate and run to where her gym rope was faithfully waiting for her, hanging out of her window. It had taken Ye Seul multiple tries to jump high enough and catch hold of the end of the rope. Fortunately for her, once back in her room, she had remembered to pull the rope back in and put in back in the box where it came from.

She had changed and crawled into bed, hoping to get some sleep before she had to get up and get ready for school. But sleep had not come to her. She lay awake, the events of the evening dancing a samba in her head. Before she knew it, it was six in the morning and she was still wide awake. By eight, her mother had started assaulting her bedroom door.

“Ye Seul!” her mother shrieked particularly loudly, with a series of absolutely irritating knocking, driving Ye Seul mad.

“For the love of God, leave me alone!” Ye Seul screamed, pulling her blanket tightly around herself and squeezing her eyes shut.

There was silence as the knocking and screaming stopped abruptly. Ye Seul sighed and pressed her aching forehead.

“Ye Seul?” came her mother’s voice again, softer this time, “Are you alright?”

“Go away.” Ye Seul said loudly, wishing nothing more than to get at least an hour of sleep.

“Alright, I get it.” Ye Seul heard her mother say, “You can stay home today. I’ll call your school to let them know you’ll be absent. But don’t make this a habit.”

Ye Seul sat up when she heard her mother’s footsteps fade and walked into the bathroom. She popped in two aspirins, splashed some cold water on her face and decided to try going back to sleep.

She was woken up three hours later by the endless beeping of her phone. She groaned and sat up, glancing at the clock to check the time.

“It’s eleven-thirty already?” she muttered to herself, fumbling with her phone. Even in her half dazed state, she was shocked to see the numerous missed calls and the outrageous number of texts.

“What the hell?” Ye Seul thought, opening Hoseok’s messages.

_‘Ye Seul, you okay?’_

_‘Aren’t you coming to school?’_

_‘Where are you? Are you at home?’_

_‘Kang Ye Seul! Where in the world are you!?’_

Ye Seul scrolled through the rest of his messages, wondering why he was so worked up over her absence.

 _‘I’m fine. I’m at home. I didn’t get much sleep last night, so I was asleep.’_  Ye Seul replied and went back to see the other texts.

 Hyoyeon had asked if she would at least turn up for practice that day,  _because ‘she absolutely shouldn’t be missing even a single day of practice.’_  There was a text from Mina asking why she was absent and if she was sick. Ye Seul replied to them and finally opened Jimin’s messages.

_‘Kang Ye Seul, are you trying to avoid the after school meeting with us?’_

_‘Avoiding us is not going to help you in any way, you know!’_

_‘You better be present for the meeting or Jin hyung’s going to be furious. Again.’_

Ye Seul sighed, running a hand through her tousled hair, getting rid of the knots. She put her phone down without replying to Jimin’s messages and slipped off her bed. She decided what she needed right now was a nice long hot bath and some food in her stomach.

An hour and half later, Ye Seul found herself munching on some Kimchi fried rice that she had whipped up, washing it down with chocolate milk. After she had had her satisfactory meal, Ye Seul decided she might as well head to school and attend the afternoon session, seeing as she still had half an hour in hand.

Ye Seul ran into the school just as the bell signalled the end of lunch break. She avoided all gazes as she walked into class and took her seat, next to Mina. She couldn’t, nor did she want to see the boys. She decided she would leave that for later, when she would have to see them.

At four-thirty, Hyoyeon found her, and with a yelp of delight dragged her off to the dance hall.

“Geez! I’m so glad you made it to school!” Hyoyeon gushed as they changed into their t-shirts and tights, “Every minute of practice is important for us!”

“You’re really passionate about this.” Ye Seul commented with a small grin.

“Of course!” Hyoyeon grinned back, “Dance is the one thing that makes up my whole life!”

Ye Seul sighed, “I wish it could be like that for me too.”

Hyoyeon paused in the middle of tying the lace of her converse, “I thought it is like that for you?”

“It’s not.” Ye Seul muttered, slamming her locker shut, “I’m just soaking up as much as I can of it, before I’m forced to give it up.”

“Parents?” Hyoyeon cocked an eyebrow, standing up and brushing her tights.

“Yeah.” Ye Seul shrugged, leaning on her locker and turning to look at Hyoyeon. Hyoyeon gave her a hard, long look making her rather self-conscious.

“What?” Ye Seul asked, standing up straight, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Rebel.” Hyoyeon said, bluntly.

“Eh?” Ye Seul raised an eyebrow incredulously.

“Rebel, then.” Hyoyeon shrugged, “If dance is what you want, then make it that way. No one has to dictate your life for you.”

“It’s easier said than done.” Ye Seul gave Hyoyeon a bitter smile, “Let’s go. The guys must be waiting.”

Hyoyeon’s next statement made Ye Seul freeze on the spot. “That’s not the impression I got of you. Yesterday night.”

“What?” Ye Seul gasped, whipping around to look at Hyoyeon, eyes wide with shock.

“Let’s go. The guys must be waiting.” Hyoyeon smirked, and walked out of the locker room, leaving behind a very flabbergasted Ye Seul.

“Hyoyeon! Wait!” Ye Seul sprinted after Hyoyeon, breaking out of her shocked state, “Hyoyeon, wha-“

Ye Seul stopped abruptly as she ran face first into someone and stumbled.

“Damn! Sorry!” Ye Seul shrieked, embarrassed, from the floor.

“Kang Ye Seul.” The person held out his hand to help her up.

“Jimin?” Ye Seul squeaked, timidly taking his hand and standing up.

“You didn’t reply to my messages.” Jimin said grimly. Ye Seul tried to hide her face in her hair.

“Sorry.” She muttered, “I had other stuff on my mind.”

“Well, at least you turned up.” Jimin smirked, “Don’t miss the meeting.”

Ye Seul shook her head, sighing to herself, as she followed Jimin to the dance hall. Hyoyeon’s statement was still playing in her head. She wondered is this meant what she thought it meant.

“Ye Seul!”

“Noona!”

Ye Seul smiled at Taehyung and Jungkook, “Hey, guys!”

“You okay?” Taehyung asked, looking her up and down.

“I’m fine.” Ye Seul said quickly, glancing at Hyoyeon, who was doing her stretches and not paying them any attention, “Where are Hoseok, Yixing, Hyun Woo and Mina?”

“Hoseok hyung is on his way.” Jungkook said, “I don’t know about Yixing hyung and Mina noona…Ah, here’s Hoseok hyung.”

Everyone turned around to look at Hoseok, who walked in with a dark expression on his face. He took off his hoodie and flung it to one side and began doing his stretches in his tank top and shorts, without a word to anyone.

“What are you guys doing?” he asked, grimly, when the others kept staring at him, “Do your stretches so we can start practice.”

“What happened to you?” Hyoyeon asked, placing her hands on her hips.

“Nothing. Get ready for practice.” Hoseok ordered firmly.

“Hoseok!” Hyoyeon retorted just as firmly.

Ye Seul wondered whether it had anything to do with the events of the previous evening. Was he really this pissed off with her? Was he just pretending to be nice? Hoseok’s next statement, however, laid her worries to rest. Only, they led to more incredulous questions.

“Yixing and Mina decided to leave RnB.” Hoseok kicked the wall angrily.

“What?” Ye Seul gasped, “Why!?”

“Mina is just not interested anymore.” Hoseok grumbled, “And Yixing is changing schools.”

“That came out of nowhere.” Hyoyeon muttered while Taehyung and Jungkook looked dumbstruck. Jimin broke the spell by snorting rudely.

“What?” Hoseok turned to him with narrowed eyes.

“So it was true…” Jimin muttered under his breath.

“What was true?” Hyoyeon asked.

“It’s better it you hear it from Jin hyung.” Jimin spoke rapidly, “Hyo, stay back after practice today. Join our meeting. Call your girls, too.”

Ye Seul stared at Hyoyeon as she immediately whipped out her phone. “What’s going on?”

“Hyoyeon’s part of another all girls dance group. Like us.” Hoseok explained.

“Hyoyeon is!?” Ye Seul exclaimed.

“Yes!” Hyoyeon exhaled, “How else did you think I’d seen you yesterday?”

“Well…um…” Ye Seul stammered, “What is this new news anyway?”

“I’m calling Jin hyung.” Hoseok prised out his phone.

“Are you crazy?” Jimin pulled the phone away from him, “Not during school hours!”

“Then tell me what this is about?” Hoseok asked again, “And why didn’t Jin hyung tell me about it?”

“You know how it is!” Jimin glared at Hoseok, “Jin hyung asked me to confirm something for him! Hyun Woo's probably out confirming the same thing. I suspected as much when he didn't turn up yesterday!”

Ye Seul looked from one person to another, disconcerted. What did Hyun Woo have to do with all this now?

“You don’t mean…?” Hoseok deadpanned, hand dropping limply to his side.

“Yes,” Jimin nodded, “There’s a new group in town.”

* * *

 


	4. Chapter 4

Ye Seul nervously fiddled with the creases of her t-shirt. The silence suffocated her. She wished at least one of them would say something, but of the fifteen people assembled in the dance practice hall, excluding her, not one person opened their mouth.

 

Ye Seul flattened herself against the wall, trying to appear inconspicuous. It worked, because no one seemed to be paying her any attention. They seemed to have forgotten that she existed. They glanced at each other broodingly, before shifting their gazes back to Jin.

 

Jin was deep in thought, the frown on his forehead becoming more and more prominent with every passing minute. He hadn’t spared Ye Seul a single glance from the moment he had entered the dance hall.

 

“Seokjin.” One of the girls finally spoke, smoothing down her dark black hair “How did you even find out about this new group?”

 

“Eric hyung mentioned an up and coming group in passing, today morning.” Jin scowled, “He warned me that we need get our act straight, if we want to maintain our position.”

 

“Why?” the girl sounded surprised, “You guys have always been at the top.”

 

“It was after we unveiled our new surprise member.” Jin said through clenched teeth, his hands forming angry fists. Everyone’s eyes snapped to Ye Seul momentarily, before flitting back to Jin.

 

“Anyway, I asked Jimin to investigate.” Jin continued, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his thighs, resting his forehead in his hands, “Jimin found out that the group has nine boys and that one of them is from this school. They’re a Seoul group, but we suspect they’ve moved to Busan and are trying to set up their territory.”

 

“You suspect Yixing is with them? I never expected Yixing to be involved in the underground dancing scene.” Hyoyeon asked, forehead creased in a frown.

 

“Makes sense though, seeing as he’s one hell of a dancer and that he’s the one leaving as soon as news of this new group comes up.” Hoseok grimaced.

 

“Yixing…never really got chummy with us.” Jimin said thoughtfully, “He always kept his distance.”

 

“The guys told me Yixing kept travelling to Seoul on random weekends.” Jin said, shaking his head at Jimin’s romantic reasoning, “Jimin wasn’t sure of all the dates he was there, but the ones that he did remember, they were all dates of competitions in Seoul.”

 

“That could have been coincidence?” another girl with bright red hair, asked, rubbing the tip of her chiselled nose.

 

“Nah…too many times to just be coincidence.” Jimin shook his head.

 

“Any details about the rest of the boys in that group?” Hyoyeon asked Jin.

 

“Nothing yet.” Jin answered, disgruntled.

 

“Hoseok, which school is Yixing transferring to?” the girl with the dark long hair asked, standing up to walk around the room. Even in the flats that she was wearing, Ye Seul was sure she was taller than all of them in the room.

 

“I don’t know.” Hoseok shrugged, and turned to a girl with brownish wavy hair cascading down her back, “Joohyun, have any new kids joined your school recently? Someone who might have a chance of being related to this group?”

 

“Now that you mention it,” the girl called Joohyun said, after pondering for a minute, “two new boys did join our advanced dance class. A Kim Jongin and an Oh Sehan? Sehun? Oh and another one – what’s his name – Yu something.”

 

“Interesting.” Jin muttered, tapping his nose thoughtfully, “Are they good?”

 

“I haven’t seen them dance yet.” She shrugged, “They must be, though, seeing as they’ve been accepted into the advanced dance class.”

 

“Are there any other high schoolers in that group?” a petite girl with a baby face and shoulder length straight blonde hair asked Jin.

 

“I don’t know, Taeyeon.” Jin shook his head, “Like I said, we have hardly any information on them.”

 

“Then it’s time we got more information.” Hyoyeon stood up, “Joohyun, Zhang Yixing might join your school any time this week, provided those new boys belong to this new group and are the only high schoolers in that group.”

 

“He might, yes.” Joohyun answered, “I just have to play to my strengths, yeah?”

 

“That’s my girl!” Hyoyeon grinned at her, slapping her back.

 

“Ah, Joo’s still got that fatal charm, eh?” Hoseok cracked a smile.

 

“In abundance!” Joohyun flipped her wavy brown hair, winking at him.

 

Ye Seul wondered what they meant, but she kept quiet, not wanting to draw attention to herself. Her head was messed up enough, as it was. She couldn’t for her life fathom how she had ended up in such a situation. One day in this new school, and she was already part of a gang that consisted of only boys who binged on alcohol every chance they got and participated in illegal underground dance competitions. Well, what next?

 

“Ye Seul!”

 

Ye Seul snapped out of her reverie as Hyoyeon’s voice pierced her eardrums, “Y-yes?”

 

“Are you alright?” Hyoyeon asked, concerned, “You look kinda pale.”

 

“I-I’m fine.” Ye Seul nodded, pushing her back off the wall and standing up straight.

 

“So, your name’s Ye Seul?” the baby faced girl smiled at her, looking interested, “I’m Taeyeon, and I just go by Tae at the parties.”

 

“Hello.” Ye Seul muttered softly, avoiding her gaze, choosing to stare at the floor instead.

 

“I’m Yuri and I go by Yuri.” The girl with the dark long hair smirked, “I honestly don’t see the point of hiding our names. At the parties.”

 

She glanced at Jin when she said that and Jin turned away with an angry grimace. Yuri turned back to Ye Seul and asked, “What was that you introduced yourself as yesterday?”

 

“Jen.” Ye Seul managed to choke out, throat clogged up due to nervousness.

 

“Ah, Jen.” Yuri nodded, “Nice meeting you, Jen. Honestly, you really owned that dance yesterday.”

 

Yuri let out a tinkling laugh when Ye Seul looked up at her, eyes wide with surprise at the unexpected compliment.

 

“Don’t look so surprised. Yuri’s right.” The girl with the bright red hair chuckled and introduced herself, “I’m Sunkyu and I go by Sunny.”

 

“I’m Joohyun!” the girl from earlier chirped, waving at Ye Seul, “I’m called Seohyun at the parties. And I’m the youngest.”

 

“I’m Yoona.” The girl next to Joohyun muttered quietly when Joohyun nudged her side. She hadn’t spoken one word since the beginning of the meeting and only grudgingly opened her mouth to introduce herself.

 

“I’m Mi Young.” One of the two remaining girls stood up, her bright smile turning her eyes into crescentic slits, and swung an arm around the neck of the girl next to her, “And this is Sooyoung.”

 

“Or you could call us Tiffany and Soo.” The girl called Sooyoung shrugged, crossing her long legs, passing a hand through her short bob of dirty blonde hair.

 

“Hello, it’s nice meeting you.” Ye Seul muttered in almost a whisper, tilting her head in an awkward little bow in the girls’ general direction.

 

Ye Seul could well imagine the likes of Hyoyeon, Yuri and Joohyun being part of the underground dancing scenario, but she was confounded that the likes of Taeyeon and Sunny and Tiffany too were part of it. They just didn’t look the part.

 

“Well, that’s that then.” Taeyeon clapped her hands and turned to Jin, trying to break the awkwardness, “Joohyun will chat up the three new boys and Zhang Yixing, if he joins the school and try to find out what’s up. In the meantime, what about the rest of us?”

 

“There isn’t much the rest of us can actually do right now.” Jin sighed, “Just keep your eyes and ears open and share if you find anything of importance.”

 

“Aye aye, captain!” Taeyeon executed a mock salute in Jin’s direction, shooting him a crooked smile, “Well, we’ll get going then. Hyo, you coming with us?”

 

“No, you guys go on ahead.” Hyoyeon waved Taeyeon away, looking worriedly at Ye Seul, “I’ll see you later.”

 

Taeyeon glanced curiously from Hyoyeon to Ye Seul, “Alright, see you later, then. Let’s go, girls. Bye guys!”

 

After a lot of called out goodbyes, when the hall was silent once more, with only the Bangtan boys, Hyoyeon and Ye Seul, Hyoyeon approached Ye Seul.

 

“Ye Seul,” Hyoyeon called, touching her shoulder lightly, “Do you wanna get some coffee?”

 

Ye Seul nodded, a little confused as to why Hyoyeon should be asking her out for coffee, but glad that she had asked any way. Jungkook and Taehyung looked curiously at Hyoyeon as she gave Hoseok a short reassuring nod, that he returned with a grateful smile.

 

“We’ll come too!” the boys who Ye Seul remembered were called RapMon and Suga from the previous evening, jumped to their feet, glancing at Jin. Ye Seul cocked an eyebrow incredulously.

 

“I’m not going to do anything.” Hyoyeon exhaled, holding up her hands, rolling her eyes at the two boys. Ye Seul stared at the three of them, bewildered.

 

“What do you mean, you’re not going to do anything?” Ye Seul turned to Hyoyeon, inquiringly, “What do they think you’re going to do?”

 

“I just want to talk to her.” Hyoyeon turned to Jin, ignoring Ye Seul’s question, “She needs answers and you guys are not giving them to her.”

 

“I asked her to talk to Jen, Jin hyung.” Hoseok interrupted, “She’s doing this on my request.”

 

Jin looked at Hyoyeon, eyes looking like they were boring through her head.

 

“I know you mean well, Hyo, and I have no reason to not trust you.” Jin said earnestly, but then his tone hardened, “Still, take Namjoon and Yoongi with you.”

 

“Why don’t you come yourself, if you’re so worried?” Hyoyeon snapped at Jin, looking peeved.

 

“I’m sorry, but why do any of them have to come with us?” Ye Seul interrupted loudly before Jin could make his retort, getting tired of their wrangling.

 

When none of them answered, Ye Seul pursed her lips in a thin straight line and picked up her bag.

 

“I’m suddenly not in the mood for coffee any more. Let’s have a cosy catch up another day.” She said and walked out before they could stop her.

 

In her hurry to put adequate distance between herself and the rest of the people back in the hall, Ye Seul collided into someone and felt her butt hit the floor for the second time that day. She groaned in frustration.

 

“Ye Seul?”

 

“Hyun Woo?” Ye Seul looked up surprised, “Where have you been all day?”

 

“I had stuff to attend to.” Hyun Woo answered, helping her up, “What are you doing here?”

 

Ye Seul was about to mention the boys and everything, when she remembered just in time that it was all supposed to be hush hush.

 

“I was…um…just dancing by myself.” Ye Seul shrugged, “Why are you here now, anyway?”

 

“I had something to do.” Hyun Woo answered briefly, staring at her curiously and then looking past her at the entrance to the dance hall, “Seokjin?”

 

“Hyun Woo.”

 

Ye Seul flipped around and saw Jin walking towards the two of them, frowning slightly. She turned to look at Hyun Woo, who shot her a puzzled glance before looking back at Jin.

 

“I see you’re still here.” Jin addressed Ye Seul.

 

“I was just leaving.” Ye Seul said curtly, before nodding at Hyun Woo and sprinting away.

 

“You guys know each other?” Hyun Woo asked sharply, drawing Jin’s gaze to him, away from Ye Seul’s retreating back.

 

“You must have heard from the rest of your boys already.” Jin shrugged carelessly.

 

Hyun Woo stared at Jin wide eyed, before turning back to look at Ye Seul as she just disappeared down the stairs.

 

“You don’t mean it?” Hyun Woo asked, not bothering to keep the surprise out of voice, “That’s _her_?”

 

“It’s a long story.” Jin exhaled, “For another time. Right now, I assume you have some news for us?”

 

“Yeah, I do.” Hyun Woo nodded, “So, you’ve heard too, have you?”

 

“Bits of it.” Jin nodded, walking back into the dance hall with Hyun Woo, “Guys, Hyun Woo has news!”

 

“Hyun Woo!”

 

“Hyun Woo hyung!”

 

“Where the hell have you been all day?” Hyoyeon asked, “It’s been totally crazy!”

 

“Where were you yesterday evening?” Namjoon asked, “Your boys left without performing because you didn’t turn up.”

 

“I know.” Hyun Woo answered, squatting down on the floor, “The job I was out for took way longer than I expected. But I found out quite a few interesting things.”

 

“You know stuff about this new group?” Hyoyeon asked eagerly, squatting down on the floor next to him.

 

 

“Quite a bit.” Hyun Woo grinned smugly.

 

“How?” Jungkook looked flabbergasted, “Even Jimin hyung and Jin hyung couldn’t find out anything!”

 

“I got lucky.” Hyun Woo’s grin widened, “One of the members happens to my friend from middle school.”

 

“Fantastic.” Jin nodded with satisfaction, “So, what have you got?”

 

“How much do you know already?” Hyun Woo asked Jin.

 

“We know they’re a Seoul based group, with nine members, two of them possibly high schoolers.” Jin narrated confidently, till he saw the confused frown on Hyun Woo’s face.

 

“I’ve heard something slightly different.” Hyun Woo said, “Not much of a difference, but my friend told me they’re a seven membered group. Two of them are high schoolers, a Kim Yugyeom who goes to the same school as Joohyun and a Thai boy whose name I can’t pronounce to save my life.”

 

“Do they have members called Kim Jongin or Oh Sehun?” Yoongi asked, sitting up where he had been lying on the floor.

 

“No, there’s no one named like that in their group.” Hyun Woo answered, perplexed, “What are you guys on about?”

 

“Are you sure?” Jin asked sharply.

 

“Absolutely!” Hyun Woo insisted.

 

“How are you so okay with them trying to take over our territory?” Hoseok asked Hyun Woo, mystified.

 

“Who’s trying to take over our territory?” Hyun Woo looked astonished.

 

“This new group is!” Hyoyeon snapped.

 

“No, they aren’t!” Hyun Woo snapped back, “They are ready to become our allies! Why would they be trying to take over the territory?”

 

“Say what?” Jimin gasped.

 

“Who’s been feeding _you_ guys information?” Hyun Woo asked with a grimace.

 

“The usual channels.” Taehyung answered, before turning to Jin who appeared rather disturbed, “Jin hyung, what does this mean?”

 

Jin ignored Taehyung and asked Hyun Woo, “Are you sure, absolutely perfectly sure, that they agreed to be our allies?”

 

“Yes!” Hyun Woo said loudly, “Why?”

 

“Then make sure they do become our allies!” Jin said firmly, forehead creased anxiously, “Before the other group makes a move on them.”

 

“What other group?” Hyun Woo’s eyes snapped to Jin.

 

“This group you’re talking about is not the only new group.” Jin spoke urgently, “We need more info on the other group!”

 

“What group?” Hyun Woo asked again, a little louder.

 

“There’s another Seoul based group looking to establish ground in our territory.” Hoseok explained, “From what we’ve understood about them, they don’t seem to be the type who would want to be our buddies.”

 

“Two other new kids joined Joohyun’s advanced dance class and we suspect they’re part of the group.” Jimin added.

 

“You’re not telling him the most important part.” Yoongi drawled from the floor, “Yixing changed schools, right when the news of this new group came up.”

 

“Yixing did what?” Hyun Woo asked, nonplussed, looking at Hoseok for confirmation. Hoseok nodded morosely.

 

“We also found that all the weekends that he visited Seoul were dates of various underground dance competitions.” Taehyung supplied.

 

“That sneaky piece of shit!” Hyun Woo exclaimed, fuming.

 

“Forget about that.” Jin said firmly, “Right now we have to find out as much as we can about this group. And Hyun Woo, make sure those friends of yours are on our side.”

 

 

 

 

 

Ye Seul threw the empty deokbeokki container in the trash can and wiped her lips with a piece of tissue paper. The sky overhead had darkened and the hands of her watched indicated it was nearing eight in the evening.

 

Ye Seul knew her parents were right now trying to call her phone and failing to reach her seeing as her phone was right where she had placed it that morning – inside her bag, in switched off mode. Ye Seul was in no mood to go home any time soon. But trying her parents’ patience was not a very sensible thing to do.

 

So, Ye Seul pulled out her phone and switched it on, formulating an excuse inside her head. Her phone rang the instant she switched it on.

 

“Hello? Mom?” she spoke into the phone.

 

“Ye Seul, oh, for the love of God! Where in the world are you?” her mother screeched back and Ye Seul had to pull the phone away from her year a little.

 

“Mom, relax.” Ye Seul said, in what she hoped was a soothing, nonchalant tone, “I was at the library. So, I had to keep my phone switched off.”

 

“You went to school?” she heard her mother’s astonished voice and rolled her eyes.

 

“Yes, mom. I went to school.” Ye Seul muttered, “I attended the afternoon session and then I had to go to the library to get some work done. I’m sorry I forgot to call you earlier. I just remembered and hurried out to call you.”

 

“Are you on your way back home?” Mrs. Kang asked.

 

“Um…no, mom. Not yet. I’m still at the library. I’ll wind up as soon as I can and rush home, okay?” Ye Seul lied through her teeth and was relieved when her mother bought it.

 

“Alright then, at least you’re taking your studies seriously.” Ye Seul heard her mother say and bit her tongue to stop herself from making any remark.

 

“See you, mom.” She said, before hanging up and dropping the phone back into her bag. She looked around, wondering which store to explore next when a voice behind her made her jump.

 

“You’re an interesting little girl, eh?”

 

Ye Seul whirled around in shock to see the owner of the Shinhwa club who she had the misfortune of meeting the previous evening, smirking at her.

 

“Hello!” he grinned at her, tilting his head in acknowledgement.

 

Ye Seul gave him a little bow, before she turned around and began to walk away, eager to put as much distance as possible between him and herself. She glanced back to see if she’d lost him, but gasped in shock when she saw him following her.

 

Ye Seul hastened her pace, trying to mingle in with the crowd, but he seemed to keep her in sight at all times. She wondered if she should start running, when she was forced to halt in shock as the tattooed man from the previous evening appeared in front of her.

 

Ye Seul backtracked and turned around, only to end up face to face with the boss of Shinhwa.

 

“Ah. Hello again.” He grinned at her crookedly.

 

“What do you want?” Ye Seul asked sharply, trying to mask her nervousness.

 

“Me?” the man pointed to himself, “I just want to invite you to another party. In fact, I’m here to escort you to the party myself.”

 

“I’m not going to any parties tonight.” Ye Seul said firmly, trying to walk past him.

 

“Oh, come on. Don’t be like that.” The man pulled her back by the elbow and pushed her towards a waiting car, “Get in.”

 

“I don’t think so.” Ye Seul growled, freeing her hand and walking away from the car, only to be pulled back forcefully.

 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Ye Seul snapped, angrily.

 

“Get into the car while I’m still being nice.” The man said in a dangerously low voice that made Ye Seul’s blood run cold. Someone pushed her from the back and Ye Seul found her feet automatically making their way to the waiting car.

 

“I really should be getting back home.” Ye Seul muttered, nervously.

 

“Oh, you’ll get back home after the party.” The man chuckled.

 

“My parents will be worried.” Ye Seul rambled, “I haven’t told them I’m going to be late. They might call the cops.”

 

“Don’t worry. Your parents think you’re at the library.” The man replied in an amused voice and a shiver ran down Ye Seul’s spine. She hesitated with her hand on the door of the car.

 

“Get in.” the man nudged her gently, and then roughly, when she refused to budge, “Hurry up!”

 

Ye Seul swallowed thickly as she slowly lowered herself into the car, clutching her school bag tightly. She saw the tattooed man occupy the driver’s seat. The boss grinned at her as she settled back on the seat, hugging her school bag, looking like a lost child.

 

“That’s my girl.” The man let out a sinister chuckle, slamming the door shut.

* * *

 


	5. Chapter 5

“Zelo! That’s enough!” Yongguk reprimanded in his deep voice, prising the bottle of beer out of Zelo’s hands.

 

“Hyung!” Zelo whined, reaching out for the bottle, making grabby hands, “Give it back!”

 

“You’ve had enough to drink!” Yongguk pushed Zelo back into the couch, where he lay limp, grumbling under his breath, “Ajhumma will be after my blood if she finds out I let you drink!”

 

In reply, Zelo simply thrashed his hands and feet like a kid throwing a tantrum. Yongguk scoffed and turned away to place the bottle on the table.  He squinted at the crowd occupying the dance floor through the dim lighting gracing the club room, looking for the rest of his members.

 

Jongup seemed lost in a world of his own, swinging to the music, not even noticing his drink sploshing out of the bottle. Himchan and Youngjae were flirting with a bunch of girls who seemed to be only too eager to throw themselves at the two boys. Daehyun sat at the bar, quietly sipping his drink and observing the people around.

 

Yongguk glanced back at Zelo, only to see that the boy had fallen asleep and was now softly snoring on the couch. He checked the time and decided it was time to carry Zelo back to their shared apartment. He waved to attract Daehyun’s attention and pointed at Zelo. Daehyun responded with a quick reassuring nod and a thumbs up.

 

Trusting Daehyun to make sure the rest of the boys got home safely, Yongguk proceeded to lift Zelo on to his back. A slight commotion at the door made him stop in the act. He let Zelo’s hand slip off from around his neck and bent down to lower him back carefully on the couch.

 

When he straightened and got a better look at the door, his eyebrows shot up in surprise. He turned to Daehyun to see if he had noticed as well, and found him standing up, also staring wide eyed at the door. Daehyun shot Yongguk an apprehensive questioning look.

 

“We should tell them.” Yongguk mouthed to Daehyun, pulling out his phone. Swiftly, he dialled number seven on his speed dial and waited for the call to go through.

 

_“Hello?”_ came the gruff reply, after three rings.

 

“Namjoon?” Yongguk asked in his low deep voice.

 

_“Yongguk? What’s up?”_ Namjoon sounded a little surprised.

 

“Are you guys on your way to Haeundae by any chance?” Yongguk asked as Daehyun appeared behind him.

 

_“Haeundae? No, we’re chilling at Jin hyung’s apartment. Why? Are we missing something good?”_ Namjoon asked, laughing.

 

“Namjoon, you guys should get here. Fast.” Yongguk said seriously, unnerving Namjoon.

 

_“What happened? You sound horribly serious.”_ Namjoon’s voice was suddenly grim.

 

“Your new member…that girl…” Yongguk spoke cautiously.

 

_“What about her?”_ Namjoon’s tone turned completely dark.

 

“She’s here with Eric hyung. Right now.” Yongguk said grimly, “And I don’t think she’s here of her own free will.”

 

_“We’ll be there in thirty.”_ Yongguk heard Namjoon say before the line went dead.

 

“What did he say?” Daehyun asked, watching Yongguk slip the phone back into his pocket.

 

“They’re on the way.” Yongguk answered, striding to where the boss of club Shinhwa stood with the scared cowering girl next to him, “Let’s find out what’s going on.”

 

“Eric hyung!” Yongguk called out loudly, attracting the attention of the man in question along with the people around.

 

“Ah, Jepp*, Dae.” Eric Mun shot Yongguk a crooked smile, “How you boys doing?”

 

“We’re doing fine as usual.” Yongguk smirked, “But, what’s up with you? We hardly ever see you at the parties these days.”

 

“You know how it is. I’m a busy man. I don’t really have time for parties.” Eric shrugged, stroking his jaw.

 

“You must be free tonight, then. You’re here when we don’t even have a party.” Daehyun commented from behind Yongguk.

 

“I’m afraid not, Dae.” Eric sneered, turning to look at the frightened girl next to him, restrained by one of his workers, “I’m here for business.”

 

“Business?” Yongguk asked, glancing at Ye Seul himself, not missing the hesitantly pleading look that she shot him.

 

“I’m adding a new gem to my collection.”  Eric nodded, grabbing Ye Seul’s elbow, “Well, we’re kinda busy, so we’ll go on ahead.”

 

With a flamboyant wave, Eric began to pull her towards the stairs, that led to the more hidden and sinister part of the club. Daehyun took a step forward, shooting Yongguk a panicked look.

 

“Hey, Eric hyung!” Yongguk called out, “Isn’t that the girl from yesterday? The new member of BTS?”

 

Eric stopped short at his words and turned around slowly.

 

“You must be mistaken.” He said with a forced smile, “I don’t think you’ve seen this girl before.”

 

The shocked look that Ye Seul shot Eric was confirmation that Eric was up to no good. And seeing that he was leading Ye Seul upstairs, Yongguk had a pretty good idea what he had in mind.

 

“I’m quite sure, though.” Yongguk argued, “I’m not likely to forget such an amazing dancer.”

 

“Well, it’s none of your business.” Eric growled through gritted teeth, tugging at Ye Seul’s arm and beginning to walk away.

 

“Wait, what?” Ye Seul suddenly screamed, “You said I just had to stay for this party!”

 

“Shut up and keep walking!” Eric thundered at her in a threatening voice, pushing her forward, “Don’t look back. Just walk!”

 

“No!” Ye Seul yelled, turning to Yongguk and Daehyun, “Help me!”

 

“Eric hyung!” Yongguk voice had become low and dangerous, “Jin won’t be happy when he finds out! You don’t want to make Jin angry!”

 

“What Jin doesn’t know, won’t hurt him.” Eric sneered, “And he won’t know if you remember to keep your trap shut!”

 

“You know Jin will find out!” Daehyun said angrily, “It’s not the first time you’ve done this! And Jin threw a fit even when he had nothing to do with the girl!”

 

“You know Jin has taken responsibility for her!” Yongguk growled, “You might make the rules for the parties, but you follow Jin’s rules when it comes to his members. And rule number one is you don’t lay a hand on his members.”

 

Choosing not to reply, Eric merely jerked his head and five men appeared out of nowhere to form a barrier between Eric and the boys. Four of them grabbed Yongguk and Daehyun, while the remaining one took orders from Eric.

 

“Keep them at bay.” Eric ordered quietly, before dragging Ye Seul towards the back entrance of the club instead of the stairs, “We’ll have to get her to another location. I’m pretty sure those two have called Bangtan already. One of you get the car ready.”

 

Yongguk struggled against his captors violently, looking around for his members. To his relief, they seemed to have noticed the commotion and were making their way towards them.

 

“Himchan! Youngjae! Jongup!” Yongguk yelled, his voice thundering throughout the club, “Stop them!”

 

Daehyun noted with relief that Ye Seul’s struggling was slowing them down, until the man with Eric bashed her head against the door, knocking her out. He hauled her up over his shoulders and hurried after Eric.

 

“Hyung!” Daehyun let out a panicked scream, turning around, only to find the rest of his members struggling against more men that had appeared out of nowhere. The rest of the people at the club didn’t seem to paying them much attention, probably because they thought this was just another drunk altercation.

 

“HYUNG!” Daehyun yelled, grasping the neck of one of his captor and trying to push him away, “HYUNG! THEY’RE GETTING AWAY!”

 

Yongguk looked around just in time to see Eric exit the back entrance of the club, the man carrying Ye Seul close in tow. He kicked back at his captor, trying to get away, only to be stopped by a sick punch to his gut. The rest of his members were in no better condition to stop Eric from escaping with Ye Seul.

 

Just when Yongguk thought it was a lost cause and nothing could be done anymore, the door of the club burst open and seven furious boys charged in like a pack of angry dire wolves.

 

 Yongguk’s captor went down with a solid kick to the face from Namjoon. Finding himself free, Yongguk punched another man in the guts sending him sprawling down. Namjoon blocked an attack from behind, kicking the man right in the balls, and watched him go down with an agonised yell.

 

 Yoongi had freed Daehyun and the two were fighting off the men, three on one, back to back. Daehyun caught hold of the heads of two men, bashing them together, instantly knocking them out. Yoongi drove his fist through the mouth of another man, probably knocking out half his teeth.

 

 Jungkook sat on top of a man, bashing his face till it turned blue. Taehyung had another man in stranglehold and neatly drove his head into the wall, knocking him unconscious. Jimin stood on top of a table, firing kicks all around. Himchan caught a man trying to attack Jungkook from behind and punched him in the guts, leaving him writhing in pain on the ground.

 

Jin brought down two men at once with an angry feral growl, trying to get to the back entrance of the club. He flung the men out of his way, sending them crashing into tables and chairs. He showed no mercy to anyone who tried to stop him, leaving only feebly stirring bodies in his path. A man careless enough to try and stop him even after viewing the destruction he had caused, got picked up by a chokehold to the neck and slammed to the ground by Jin, cracking his head open.

 

In the commotion, Hoseok slipped past the men and out the back entrance just in time to stop the other man who had Ye Seul on his shoulder. He brought the man down with a neat kick to the side of the neck. Ye Seul slipped off the man’s shoulder and lay limp on the ground. Jin, who managed to follow Hoseok out, brought his leg down on the man’s head, knocking him out cold.

 

They heard the revving of a car and headlights flashed into their eyes, blinding them. Jin just got a glimpse of a sweating and panicked Eric making his escape.

 

“That crooked cowardly bastard!” Jin spat in the car’s direction, voice full of venom.

 

“Forget him!” Hoseok yelled for Jin’s attention, “Help Ye Seul!”

 

Jin turned around to see Hoseok holding Ye Seul’s head in his lap, trying to plug the flow of blood from the cut on her head. He walked to the two of them slowly and crouched down. Hoseok saw him going slowly pale and shook his shoulder roughly.

 

“Jin hyung!” Hoseok growled at him, “Keep your senses about you! Here, hold her, while I go inside and call for help!”

 

“Is she going to be alright?” Jin asked in a hoarse whisper, frozen in his spot.

 

“She is, if we get her to a hospital in time!” Hoseok snapped, passing Ye Seul to Jin. Jin caught her, as Hoseok stood up and disappeared into the club. Jin’s hands shook as he held her, memories from a long time ago flashing through his head. Jin tried to concentrate on stopping the blood trickling from Ye Seul’s wound, ignoring the memories knocking to be released.

 

“Jin hyung! Bring her in!” Jin heard Jungkook call after around ten minutes. He carefully lifted her up and stood up. She lay limp in his arms, the wound on her head still bleeding a little. Supporting her as best as he could, Jin carried her into the club and laid her down on a table the boys has cleared of the broken glass pieces and spilt drinks.

 

The crowd in the club had thinned considerably after the full blown fight between Bangtan and Eric’s men had started. There were, however, still a few people who crouched along the walls, staring wide eyed at the damage. Yongguk and his members were nursing some nasty bruises.

 

“Thanks, guys.” Jin addressed them, “You’ve been a massive help.”

 

“Don’t mention it.” Yongguk shrugged, while Himchan shot him a thumbs up.

 

“I’ve called Hyo.” Hoseok approached Jin grimly.

 

“Why?” Jin managed to croak out, hoarsely.

 

“Because we need her right now.” Hoseok said quietly, “Let’s get her to the hospital first. Hyo will be waiting there.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What do you mean ‘call her parents’?” Hyoyeon gawked at Hoseok in disbelief, “We don’t even know what she has told her parents! What if our stories don’t coincide?”

 

“We have to try something!” Hoseok wailed, “Say she was with you at the school, practicing our routine or something! That’s most probably what she would have told her parents!”

 

“No, I doubt she would have told her parents she was practicing dance.” Hyoyeon shook her head, frowning, “She told me earlier that her parents are totally against her dancing.”

 

“She what?” Hoseok gaped at her, blinking stupidly.

 

“Yeah, anyway, what do you want me to tell her parents?” Hyoyeon whined, stamping her foot on the ground.

 

“Try library.” Jin said quietly from the side, “That would be most believable.”

 

“This is crazy!” Hyoyeon groaned, “Why me?”

 

“Well, it obviously can’t be us!” Hoseok persuaded her, “We look like we’ve just been run over by a bus! And what would she be doing with us this late at night anyway!? We definitely don’t look the library going type!”

 

“Urgh!” Hyoyeon made an irritated sound, looking around for Ye Seul’s phone in her bag, “Where’s her phone- oh, here it is.”

 

She took out the phone and swiped on the unlock sign. It asked her for a password.

 

“Anyone know her password?” Hyoyeon asked, holding up the phone, glaring at the boys. Hoseok let out a frustrated noise, prising away the phone from Hyoyeon’s hand.

 

“Find her school identity card. It should have her emergency contact number.” Jin said, taking Ye Seul’s bag from Hyoyeon to look for the identity card, “Here it is. Try that number.”

 

“Right.” Hyoyeon took the card from Jin, looking a little uncertain. She was just about to dial the emergency contact number on the card on her phone, when Ye Seul’s phone buzzed. Hoseok held up the phone to see who was calling.

 

“It’s her mother.” He said, holding out the phone to Hyoyeon. Hyoyeon drew in a deep breath, handed the identity card back to Jin and took the phone.

 

“Hurry! Answer it!” Hoseok urged. Hyoyeon swiped her thumb across the screen and held the phone to her ear.

 

“He-hello?” Hyoyeon’s voice faltered a little.

 

_“Hello? Who’s this?”_ came the answer from the other end, _“Where’s Ye Seul?”_

 

“Ah, Mrs. Kang. I’m Ye Seul’s friend from school.” Hyoyeon said, cautiously, “Um…we were returning from the…library…together, when...um…Ye Seul slipped on the stairs and hurt her head.”

 

_“What did you say!?”_ came an utterly horrendous scream from the other end, _“Where is she now? Where are you?”_

 

“We’re at the hospital right now.” Hyoyeon tried to sooth the panicking woman, “Me and a few friends got her to the hospital. She’s under observation right now. The doctors said it’s nothing very serious and she’s going to be alright. So, please don’t worry.”

 

_“Which hospital are you in? We’ll be right over!”_ Mrs. Kang asked urgently.

 

Hyoyeon thanked the heavens that the boys had the sense to bring her to the hospital closest to school, as she told Mrs. Kang the name of the hospital.

 

“What did they say?” Taehyung asked as soon as Hyoyeon got off the phone.

 

“They’re on the way.” Hyoyeon told the boys, “You guys should scoot.”

 

“You’ll be okay handling things here, right?” Jin asked.

 

“I’ll take care of it, don’t worry.” Hyoyeon reassured him.

 

“Thanks.” Jin nodded at her, and then turned to the boys, “You guys get home safely. Take Namjoon’s car.”

 

“What about you?” Jungkook asked, looking at him suspiciously.

 

“I have scores to settle with someone.” Jin said decisively, striding towards his car. Jimin caught on what Jin was up to sooner than the others and grabbed his elbow tightly.

 

“Have you gone crazy!?” Jimin snapped at Jin, tugging him away from the car.

 

“Let go.” Jin snarled at Jimin, shaking his hand off roughly.

 

“What has happened to your clear headed judgement?” Jimin yelled, making all of them jump, “You seriously think hunting down Eric hyung is the sensible thing to do right now?”

 

“Jin hyung, don’t go around making such rash decisions.” Yoongi said seriously, “We’ll confront him together about this.”

 

Jin turned away from them and punched the deck of the car, seething in anger. It was a sign he was fighting with himself, his sane clear headed side and his furious impulsive side at war with each other, trying to figure out the right thing to do.

 

“Jin hyung, I’m sorry.” Hoseok exhaled, placing a hand on Jin’s shoulder, “This whole situation is my fault. I shouldn’t have just made her a member-“

 

“No, it’s no one’s fault but her own.” Jin growled in a low angry voice, “None of this would have happened had she not turned up at the club yesterday!”

 

“In her defence, she didn’t really know what she was getting into.” Jungkook tried to reason with Jin, “You can’t say it was her fault either, Jin hyung.”

 

“She should have known to keep her nose out of other people’s business.” Jin snapped.

 

“I feel sorry for her.” Hyoyeon spoke up, “Imagine how suffocated she must be, living every day according to a set of instructions. I think she just wanted a break.”

 

“Go easy on her, Jin hyung.” Taehyung said softly, swinging an arm around Jin’s shoulder.

 

“Jin hyung, let’s go back to your place for now, okay?” Namjoon gently pulled Jin towards the car, “Hyoyeon, you’ll take care of things when her parents turn up, right?”

 

“I will. Don’t worry.” Hyoyeon waved them away, “You guys get going.”

 

“Get in, hyung.” Namjoon held the passengers’ side door open and stared at Jin’s angry scowl unflinchingly, till he gave in and got into the car, “Yoongi hyung, I’ll drive Jin hyung’s car. Can you drive our car back to his place?”

 

“Urgh, I hate driving that piece of crap!” Yoongi swore, grudgingly getting behind the wheel.

 

“Then work a little harder, and buy a new car!” Namjoon scoffed, getting behind the wheel of Jin’s car, “Give the kids a ride back to their homes!”

 

“Why me!?” Yoongi groaned as Jimin, Jungkook and Taehyung settled down comfortably in the car with him. Hoseok shook his head, laughing, as he got into the back seat of Jin’s car.

 

Hyoyeon waved them off, grinning at their antics. She waited till the two cars had become pinpoints of headlights in the distance before making her way back into the hospital.

 

“Excuse me!”

 

Hyoyeon turned her head to see a nurse approaching her.

 

“Yes?” she asked, turning properly to face the nurse.

 

“You are Ms. Kang Ye Seul’s companion, right?” the nurse asked.

 

“Yes,” Hyoyeon nodded, “Is anything the matter?”

 

“No, it’s just that Ms. Ye Seul just woke up and asked for you.” The nurse informed her, “You can go see her now.”

 

“Oh, thank you so much!” Hyoyeon sighed with relief, bowing gratefully at the nurse, “I’ll go see her.”

 

“Ah, just a minute.” The nurse stopped her, “Has her family been informed?”

 

“Yes, I’ve called them.” Hyoyeon nodded, “They should be here any moment.”

 

“Okay, then.” The nurse said, “You can go ahead and see her.”

 

“Right.” Hyoyeon gave the nurse another little bow and shot off towards Ye Seul’s room.

 

Ye Seul lay on her back, her eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling fan, when Hyoyeon entered her room. There was a white plaster around her head, a small area soaked red because of the blood. She looked a little disoriented, but otherwise appeared fine.

 

“Ye Seul.” Hyoyeon called, cautiously approaching her, “How do you feel?”

 

Ye Seul slowly turned her head to look at Hyoyeon, and gave a small smile.

 

“Hyoyeon? What are _you_ doing here? When did you get here?”

 

“The boys called me.” Hyoyeon returned her smile, “They thought it would look _slightly_ suspicious if they turned up looking like they were, with you bleeding out of your head.”

 

“Right, it would look _slightly_ suspicious.” Ye Seul sighed.

 

“Are you feeling okay?” Hyoyeon asked, concerned.

 

“My head hurts like crazy.” She said, “But, otherwise I’m fine.”

 

“What the hell even happened?” Hyoyeon asked, a worried frown etched on her face, as she sat down on the stool next to Ye Seul’s bed, “How did you end up meeting Eric oppa?”

 

An involuntary shiver passed down Ye Seul’s spine. Hyoyeon noticed her hands shaking and grabbed them with her own.

 

“Ye Seul, it’s okay.” Hyoyeon said soothingly, “You’re safe now. It’s okay.”

 

“He followed me.” Ye Seul whispered, “I was just walking around looking at shops. He heard me lie to mom on the phone that I was at the library. He forced me go with him.”

 

“Why didn’t you run?” Hyoyeon asked, gripping her hand tight.

 

“I tried to, but his men were all around.” Ye Seul shook her head, “Hyoyeon, where were they taking me? It wasn’t a party like he told me. So, what was it?”

 

“You’ve experienced a horrid shock, Ye Seul.” Hyoyeon sighed, “I don’t think this is the right time to know this stuff. Get some rest, and I’ll tell you everything once you’re back on your feet.”

 

“What if they try to kidnap me again?” Ye Seul asked in a frightened whisper, clutching Hyoyeon’s hand in a death grip.

 

“We’ll make sure they don’t.” Hyoyeon said firmly, patting Ye Seul’s hand comfortingly, “Don’t worry. They’ve crossed a line they should never have. And Jin is not going to let this rest.”

 

“What do you mean?” Ye Seul frowned.

 

“Eric Mun might be the owner of Club Shinhwa and he may be top brass in the underground dancing scenario,” Hyoyeon said, “But everyone in the underground dancing scenario in Busan, right from top brass to the very bottom rung, know one thing for certain.”

 

“What thing?” Ye Seul asked, curiously.

 

Hyoyeon smirked, “You never get on the wrong side of Kim Seokjin.”

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> © JenLee/JenLeeJune, 2016. All rights reserved.


End file.
